"You mean you don't know how the forbidden spell works at all?" Jack said.
"I know how it works, but don't know the consequences of each one of us living with a heavier heart for a while. We're not supposed to have a heavier heart. It's against the universe's orders."
"Well, good luck to all of you. I'm pretty awesome with my heart." Jack stood up. "I'm out of this."
"Stop!" Marmalade called out. It was a foolish endeavor, as her voice was too loud this time. Everyone waited to see if someone outside had heard her.
The panthers' breaths were audible now. They were sniffing the earth around the cave. It was too late to hesitate any more.
"Come out, wherever you are," Loki sneered outside.
None of them uttered a single hiss, wishing he'd just give up and look somewhere else.
"That's it. I'm fed up!" Loki lost it after a long silence. "The hell with the Queen and her daughter," he roared. "I don't have to bring her the heart and liver. Personally, I just want to kill the bratty Princess."
What did he mean he was fed up? None of them had an answer to that.
Then it came, shockingly fast: "Burn down this place—the trees and the caves. Right now!" Loki ordered his huntsmen. "Let's burn every living thing in this area, whether they come out or not."
41
The Queen's Diary
As it turned out, Angel didn't choose the whale. In many ways, it seemed to have chosen us. Angel told me that while he was struggling to protect me against the raging sea, he sank as deep as he could, and waited until it calmed down. Luckily, no mermaids followed us, because they had fled from Fate's wrath. Fate being a monster with a child's brain played in our favor. But for how long?
"So all the lines I saw in the night were the whale's curvy ribs from inside?" I lay in Angel's arms, contemplating whether being here was romantic or morbid. Did I have to worry if I could ever leave this whale? Could this be our new kingdom?
"Exactly," Angel said, brushing my hair. "Right here we feel like we're not moving, but the whale is swimming in the Seven Seas."
"But this water under the raft is deep," I remarked.
"It is." Angel laughed. "There is fish, too, and shells at the bottom. It's like the whale is a sea of its own. Which is why we should be careful."
"Why?"
"All these fish somehow came in through the whale's mouth, I guess," he said. "Meaning, who knows what the sea could throw in here?"
"I see." I tried to look as far as I could to glimpse the whale's mouth's opening, but this thing seemed immense, and the lights were dim—strangely, the inside was lit by fireflies, glowing a random gold light here and there. Either the whale had its mouth shut or it was much bigger than I could imagine. "But Hook controls the whales at sea."
"Not this one," Angel said. "When I swam around, I found there have been many other people before us here. You can tell from the carvings on the whale's bones."
"Do you think they escaped Fate, too?" I said.
"Hard to tell, but the whale saved them from the evil in the sea one way or another. The writings suggest that. Some claim to have slept here for seven years without need to eat or drink. But they're just stories."
"I wonder where these people are now?"
"I wish we'd meet a survivor so we can know where to go from here," Angel said. "There is a common name I came across many times on the wall's ribs. I have no idea what it means, but it's always capitalized and found among other names of people who have been here. Maybe that's the name of someone we should look for."
"What name?"
"Moby Dick," he said. "Funny name, right?"
"Strange name," I said. "You think it's a man's name? Maybe it's a message?"
"If it is, I don't know how to interpret it," Angel said. "I really don't care about this. I just want us to rest and then sail this small raft out to the Seven Seas. We have to find the Tower of Tales, like I promised."
I tried to talk, but Angel put a finger on my mouth.
"Shh," he said. The gold in his eyes flickered, but in a good way. "I have put you through a lot and we have to reach our destiny. My father will not give up on hunting us. We might have less time than we think."
"You think he would chase us here?"
"He won't give up, Carmilla," Angel said. "He can't."
Before I said anything, I remembered the mermaids claiming Angel hadn't really been honest with me.
"There are things I haven't told you, Carmilla," he confessed. "I still want you to trust me, though."
"What didn't you tell me, Angel?" I turned and faced him.
"If I tell you, you will run away, afraid," he said. "Trust me. And I don't want to lose you."
"Do you think I can go anywhere now?" I said, my eyes briefly scanning the immense structure of the whale. It was as big as a cathedral. "I can't swim. I can't stare and see my face in water. I am helpless, Angel. What are you keeping from me?"
"Remember when I was away for two years, after you were held captive by my father?"